Researcher, Botanical Diversity

Specialisms

Summary

My research focuses on understanding the distribution of plant diversity, both at very large (global) scales and at regional and more local scales. I also have a long-standing commitment to plant conservation, and I co-ordinate the plants side of the IUCN Sampled Red List Index (SRLI) together with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which is undertaking conservation assessments for a representative sample of 7,000 species worldwide, based largely on herbarium specimen data; as part of this role I have completed and submitted approximately 1,000 assessments. The SRLI was an official CBD indicator for the 2010 Biodiversity Target, and now forms the basis for assessing Target 12 of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets; it has already produced a scientifically-rigorous baseline of the current global conservation status of plants, and from this an index of extinction risk can be calculated and, by periodically re-assessing the same species, tracked over time to see if “a significant reduction in the current rate of loss of biodiversity” has been achieved. Much of my current research is linked to my central role on the Sampled Red List Index for Plants, including a thorough investigation of conservation assessment methodology, applying novel GIS and modelling techniques to conservation assessments and characterising functional and phylogenetic attributes of threatened plant species. I am also part of the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) and sit on the Terrestrial Species Monitoring and the Indicators working groups, and am helping to develop Essential Biodiversity Variables for monitoring trends in global biodiversity change. My career to date has given me a very broad knowledge of plants from around the world – both in the field and in the herbarium – and this strong basis in taxonomy and plant identification skills is a great strength underpinning the more analytical work I now do.

Qualifications

Degrees

PhD (Patterns in the Diversity and Distribution of Flowering Plant Genera), University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 1999 - 2014

MSc, Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 1997 - 1998